PACKAGING EPR, MEASURED
Your packaging is now invoiced by the pound. Measure it once, prove it every time.
Oregon and Colorado already charge producer fees, and California requires a plan, membership or exemption to sell covered packaging from January 1, 2027. You are liable for your weights, and the data lives with suppliers or nowhere. Instica measures it with evidence, prepares each jurisdiction’s report figures, and checks the fees.
The scope check is free and needs no account. The Free plan includes 10 measured records. Instica never files on your behalf: you submit each report yourself, and Instica prepares it and keeps the receipt.
| Component | Material | Grams | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glass jar | Glass | 142.0 | Measured |
| Steel lid | Steel | 11.3 | Measured |
| Paper label | Paper | 2.1 | Supplier |
| Corrugated shipper | Corrugated | 96.0 | Estimated |
WHO IT IS FOR
The answer you came for, in one place.
Owners of smaller brands
Run the scope check free, before you sign up. The Free plan keeps your check, your exemption deadlines and a calendar feed. Pay for Starter at $99 a month in the years a state actually bills you.
Finance teams
Every fee line shows pounds, rate and the dated source it came from. Per-product costs add up to the estimate to the cent, an invoice can be checked line by line, and accrual journals download for Xero, QuickBooks Online and NetSuite.
Consultants
Switch between client workspaces from one sign-in. Advisers a client invites use no seat, read only or able to edit figures. Billing shows usage by client for each period, as a CSV you can pass on.
Teams in Canada
Every province and territory in one model, with published fee schedules in Canadian dollars. The app is available in Canadian French, and the trust documents are translated for Québec.
Security and procurement
SAML or OIDC single sign-on and SCIM on Scale. Two-person approval before figures are signed, break-glass owners, an IP allowlist, and an audit log with a hash chain you can check and export. Subprocessors, the DPA template, data retention and a live status page are public.
What is fixed, and what is not yet
January 2027
Oregon’s 2026 program fees are payable and Colorado dues fall due each January. In California, selling covered packaging requires a plan, membership or exemption from January 1.
Report dates
CAA sets the California, Oregon and Colorado report dates each cycle, and the other states set their own. Instica shows each date with its source once it is published.
Reports cover the sales and packaging of the year before, so measuring now means the figures are ready when a date is set.
01 / THE PROBLEM
Everyone will help you file. Nobody weighs your packaging.
The rules assume you already know what every component weighs and what it is made of. For most brands, that data does not exist yet.
You are liable for your weights
The producer owns the numbers, whoever supplied them. California penalties run up to $50,000 per violation per day. Oregon’s run up to $25,000 a day.
The data sits with suppliers, or nowhere
Component weights and material categories live in supplier emails and old spec sheets. Most SKUs have never been weighed by anyone.
Estimates need a written method
Estimating is allowed. Reporting an estimate without a documented method, or leaving it uncorrected once you know better, is not.
Spreadsheets do not survive questions
A cell that says 142 g cannot tell an auditor who weighed what, when, or on which scale.
02 / HOW IT WORKS
One workflow, from obligation to invoice.
Find your obligations
Tell Instica where you sell. It works out who the producer is for each SKU and packaging level in every jurisdiction.
Model your packaging once
SKUs, shared packaging specs, components, layers and attributes. Reuse a carton across forty SKUs and weigh it once.
Measure, collect or estimate
Photograph the teardown and weigh each component on the web, on your phone or with a connected scale. Or collect figures from suppliers, or estimate with a documented sampling method. Every figure carries its data-quality tier.
Prepare the report
Bring in units sold by region. Instica prepares each jurisdiction’s figures in the regulator’s own file format where Instica has verified it against the official template, and otherwise as sealed figures you enter in the portal, plus a generated methodology document. You sign off, submit through a step-by-step portal walkthrough, and keep the receipt.
Check the fees
Estimate fees before they arrive, check the invoice against your data, forecast, and see cost per SKU and per unit. Export for accruals.
You submit. Instica prepares the report and the evidence; the signature and the submission stay with you or your consultant.
03 / WHY MEASURED DATA WINS
Estimates are allowed. Evidence is the defensible upgrade.
Most tools structure and file the numbers you give them. Instica is where the numbers get made, with the proof attached. Audit-ready by construction, not by cleanup in May.
Four data-quality tiers
Measured, supplier, estimated and declared. Every figure says which it is, and you can see what share of a report is measured before you sign it.
Signed evidence bundle
Export a signed ZIP per record: photos, readings, timestamps and the audit log. The bundle shows how a number was made.
Public verification
Anyone you send a bundle to can check its signature on a public verify page. A regulator or a retailer does not need an account.
Outside advisers, no seat
Give an auditor or consultant access to chosen entities until a date you set, read only or able to edit figures. Advisers do not use a seat and cannot sign reports or change billing.
04 / COVERAGE
Measure once. Report wherever you sell.
One measurement feeds every jurisdiction’s report. California wants weight per material category at component level, a count of plastic components, and a written methodology. Oregon wants sixty material categories. You should not weigh anything twice.
United States
7 states
California, Oregon, Colorado, Washington, Minnesota, Maryland and Maine, plus a watchlist for the next to pass.
Canada
13 provinces and territories
Every province and territory, in one model. The app is available in Canadian French for teams in Québec.
European Union
27 member states
Plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Switzerland is shown with its status: no packaging EPR obligation today.
United Kingdom
pEPR and PPT
Packaging extended producer responsibility, with a Plastic Packaging Tax check.
06 / QUESTIONS
What brands ask first.
Does Instica file my report for me?
No. You or your consultant always submit. Instica prepares the figures in the regulator’s own file format where Instica has verified it against the official template, and otherwise as sealed figures you enter in the portal, with a generated methodology document, walks you through the portal step by step, and keeps your receipt. Instica is not a producer responsibility organization. Questions of law stay with your counsel or consultant.
Can I report estimates instead of measuring?
Estimates are allowed, but the method has to be documented and the figures corrected when better data exists. Instica tags every figure as measured, supplier, estimated or declared, and writes the methodology document from the way you actually gathered the data. Measured data with evidence attached is the stronger position.
Which of my products and states are in scope?
It depends on where you sell and how much. Revenue floors differ by state: California $1M in California sales; Oregon $5M global; Colorado $5M global; Washington $5M; Minnesota, Maryland and Maine $2M. Instica works out who the producer is for each SKU and packaging level in every jurisdiction you sell into. The free scope check runs before you sign up; your counsel or consultant confirms what applies to you.
What counts as a record?
A record is one confirmed weight for one packaging component, so a box, its insert and its tape are three records. Supplier, estimated and declared figures do not count toward your record limit, so you can model your whole catalog and spend records only where you measure.
What does the Free plan include?
The public tools, plus a workspace with 10 measured records and one seat, a fee estimate, and a watermarked report preview. Every paid plan includes the full workflow through signed reports; plans differ by record volume, seats and entities, and Scale adds SSO, SCIM provisioning and priority support.
Start measuring before the 2027 invoices land.
Model your first SKU and weigh its components today. The scope check is free and needs no account. The Free plan includes 10 measured records.